Rangers fall to opportunistic Blues in MSG nail-biter

2010-11 Game No. 14; Home Game No. 7		Rangers' Record: 7-6-1
VIDEO: TORTORELLA POSTGAME REMARKS
• Complete Highlights | HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME		• Melrose Credit Union Save of the Game

GAME RECAP By Jim Cerny, newyorkrangers.com Desperate to catch a break against the air-tight defensive play of the St. Louis Blues Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers believed that their moment had arrived at the 7:25 mark of the third period. At that momemt, St. Louis’ B.J. Crombeen was sent to the penalty box to serve a five-minute boarding major, handing the Rangers a prime opportunity to erase a 1-0 deficit and swing the game back into their favor. Unfortunately for the Rangers, the moment passed as St. Louis deftly killed-off the five-minute power-play, effectively finishing off the Blueshirts, who ended up being shut out for the first time this season, 2-0. “We need to cash in there, obviously,” Rangers head coach John Tortorella said following the game. “On that five-minute power play I thought we lost a number of battles. They’re a very aggressive team killing penalties and we couldn’t come up with possession and then lost some battles.” Turned away repeatedly in the neutral zone and at the attacking blueline throughout the night, the Rangers finally worked the puck deep into the Blues zone only to have Derek Stepan crushed into the back boards by Crombeen on the play that led to the five-minute power play for the home team. Stepan was slow to get up, and a melee nearly broke out as Brandon Dubinsky charged after Crombeen before being intercepted by a linesman. But when Stepan got up and  ... • READ THE FULL STORY | PHOTO GALLERY

PHOTO OF THE GAME STAT OF THE GAME The Blueshirts were credited with a season-high 40 hits in the contest, led by Ryan Callahan, Brandon Prust and Sean Avery who each registered a game-high six hits. The Rangers now leads the entire league in average hits, tallying 28.3 per game. THREE STARS (selected by newyorkrangers.com) 1. M. Biron 2. Sean Avery 3. Marc Staal

---

THE BIGGER PICTURE This was a game where the availability of Marian Gaborik alone might have meant at least a trip to overtime, since Gaborik averages better than a point per game in his career vs. St. Louis. The good news is the injured Gaborik is due back in the lineup very soon.

RANGERS LEADERS Time on Ice -- Girardi (25:03) Shots -- Avery (7) Hits -- Prust, Avery, Callahan (6) Blocked Shots -- Rozsival (4) Takeaways -- Three players tied (2) Faceoffs Taken -- Boyle (15)

NEW YORK RANGERS LINEUP VS. ST LOUIS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Brandon Dubinsky	Artem Anisimov	Ryan Callahan
Sean Avery	Brian Boyle	Brandon Prust
Alex Frolov	Erik Christensen	Ruslan Fedotenko
Derek Boogaard	Derek Stepan	Evgeny Grachev

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Marc Staal	Michal Rozsival
Michael Del Zotto	Dan Girardi
Steve Eminger	Michael Sauer
Goaltenders: Martin Biron, Henrik Lundqvist Starting Lineup: Biron, Del Zotto, Girardi, Avery, Boyle, Prust.

POWER PLAY UNITS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Brandon Dubinsky	Artem Anisimov	Ryan Callahan
Alex Frolov	Christensen/Stepan	Brian Boyle

POINT MEN
Left Point	Right Point
Michael Del Zotto	Dan Girardi
Marc Staal	Michal Rozsival

PENALTY KILLING UNITS
FORWARD UNITS
Forward	Forward
Brandon Prust	Brian Boyle
Ryan Callahan	Anisimov/Dubinsky

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Marc Staal	Dan Girardi
Steve Eminger	Michal Rozsival